Frequently, the relative position of two elements which function together mechanically must be adjusted and fixed in the desired setting, as determined by the conditions in which they will be used. This is particularly true for some ski boots, one or several of whose mechanical operating characteristics may be adapted according to intended use and to the conditions under which the boots will be used. Although the in no way limited to this kind of specific usage, the invention will be described with reference to this particular technical area, and adaptation of the invention to other uses may be accomplished mutatis mutandis by those skilled in the art.
Modern ski boots are usually equipped with devices which permit adjustment of the relative positions of two of their component elements: one of these elements contains a guidetrack or slide in which a device or slider, which forms one piece with the second element, or itself constitutes that element, may be adjusted into position. This may, for example, be the arrangement used for adjusting the forward positioning or the lateral inclination of a boot shaft jointed to a rigid shell base, or for adjusting the forward or rearward flexion characteristics of this shaft in relation to the shell base.
Thus, French Patent Application No. FR 2 480 575 describes a device in which a guidetrack incorporates on each side a system of notches which cooperates with a pawl system carried by the slider which is spring-activated, so as to fix the relative positions of the slider and the slide-track. Although the fixing of position thus obtained is satisfactory in most cases of use, the boot is not definitively locked in that position, and an untimely shock exerted in the direction of the guidetrack is liable to change the adjustment position if the threshold for activation of the spring is exceeded.